In 2011 and 2012, both industry leading companies Bayer and Amgen took random samplings of drug development studies from peer-reviewed journals and tried to reproduce the experiments in their own labs.

What happened? Bayer could only reproduce 25% of the results, while Amgen could only replicate 11%.

It’s not that the original results were wrong. It’s just that the traditional means of reproduction is very subject to human error… and also very expensive!

“The Internet of Things,” or machine-to-machine communication, could change that. With so many electronic devices in our lives linked together for communication, we have networks that will allow the industry to completely automate complex processes at whole new levels.

Currently, biotech researchers in traditional labs sit at benches hand-writing detailed parameters such as temperature, pH, oxygen, and content, tediously moving and labeling hundreds of small volume samples at a time.

When these same processes are performed with robots and automation software, errors in execution virtually go to zero, and reproducibility goes through the roof!

Labs across the country are starting to embrace the “Internet of Things” by employing massive facilities armed with robots connected to a complex infrastructure of lab testing software and databases. Everything is logged via bar codes and loaded in databases to even track inventory, allowing these facilities to replace low in-stock items right when they need them.

Some labs such as Ginkgo Bioworks and the Emerald Cloud Lab are actually set up for outsourcing, meaning they allow external researchers to come in and use their facilities and expertly engineered (and cheaper) bio-organisms. That saves the researchers money by avoiding costly in-house research.

This business model is very similar to how technology product companies leverage external chip manufacturers, instead of producing their own chips for their devices.

Currently, many of these labs are private industry. However, there are some publicly traded companies that develop components of this technology that we’ll be able to take advantage of.

About Author

Ben Benoy is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and has been an active retail trader since 2006. He identifies investment opportunities based on key social media trends. He first identified the concept in 2008 and has since developed a tool for tracking investment “chatter” between social media users. His proprietary Social Media Stock Sentiment system has developed into a state-of-the-art platform that identifies and classifies chatter about stocks through algorithms and other indicators to forecast stock-price direction. Ben’s track record speaks for itself — over the past 12 months, his system boasts a win rate of 82.2% on 112 stock trades.

About Us

Economy & Markets Daily is the first e-letter of its kind that uses the power of demographic trends and purchasing power to accurately identify economic and market boom and busts.

We believe that knowing what consumers are going to buy next (purchasing power)... or what they'll stop buying soon... is the best way to protect your investment portfolio, maximize your returns, and make smart business and financial decisions.

Each week day, Harry Dent, Rodney Johnson, and Adam O'Dell share with you their views on demographic trends, their market research, their economic research, the housing market, economic cycles, market cycles, business cycles, and the looming economic collapse and market crash.